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Gas leak at Samsung semiconductor plant in South Korea leaves one dead, four injured

An accident involving the melting and leakage of hydrofluoric acid gas from a company pipeline left one worker dead and four injured at Samsung’s semiconductor plant in Hwaseong, South Korea local agencies have reported.

CRIEnglish reports that five contract workers were hospitalised following the incident, with four of them being discharged shortly after. However, one worker died due to complications from the acid leak, which happened after the company performed maintenance on its gas pipeline.

Local broadcasters have reported that the pipeline initially melted, leaking the fatal gas. However, the pipeline is also said to have leaked a second time, affecting those already working to contain the initial incident.

Samsung confirmed the leak and issued a statement: “A small amount of diluted hydrofluoric acid leaked early Monday morning during maintenance at one of the gas and chemical supply systems at the Hwaseong site.”

AsiaK (via The Verge) states that Samsung will be subject to an investigation to determine if the company had violated laws by failing to report the issue more promptly.

The Korean company also noted that production was not affected by the leak, which has been contained and will not pose a risk to people in the area.